James Montgomery Barber
The Royal London Hospital, UK
Title: Normal pressure hydrocephalus: A treatable form of dementia
Biography
Biography: James Montgomery Barber
Abstract
The World’s population is aging at a dramatic rate. The number of persons aged 60 or above is expected to more than double by 2050 and more than triple by 2100. As a result, the proportion of humans with age-related cognitive decline will literally ‘explode’, creating a massive financial and productivity burden that could be catastrophic to global economies. Whilst the underlying mechanisms aetiological in precipitating such decline are poorly understood, there are a subset of patients who respond favourably to a neurosurgical intervention that shunts cerebrospinal fluid from the brain into the abdomen. In this talk we will look at some of the theories behind how this condition develops, current techniques to treat it and potential future therapeutic directions that may have applications across the whole spectrum of cognitive disorders in the elderly.